Yeske Buie Celebrates Its 7th Anniversary
On January 1, 2015, Yeske Buie celebrated its 7th anniversary. Elissa and Dave have been in the profession of financial planning for more than 30 years and in business for themselves for 25 years, Yeske & Co. having been founded in 1990 and Financial Planning Group in 1993. The merger brought together two distinct cultures and approaches and blended them into something that was truly greater than the sum of its parts. While some have suggested that the 2008 merger was inevitable following their 2006 marriage (Investment News ran an article on the merger titled “Matri-Money breeds partnership”), Elissa and Dave are always quick to quip, “Have you never been married? That was the LAST reason to merge!” It was only after friend and consultant David Brand challenged their negative assumptions that they embarked on two years of hard work to determine if the synergies were worth the risk. Ultimately, they came to realize that their two firms had unique competencies – one focused on efficiency and the other on effectiveness – that were worth combining. As for the firm’s name, Elissa and Dave considered many possibilities before settling on Yeske Buie, largely on the advice of marketing guru Harry Beckwith, who believes that professional service firms should adopt the names of their founders if those individuals have any kind of public profile.
What Elissa and Dave didn’t know as January 1 of 2008 arrived and the merger became official was that the world was already sliding into the worst recession in over 80 years. And while no one would willingly choose such a scary time to embark on a grand new enterprise, surviving the turmoil of 2008 and 2009 truly forged the Yeske Buie identity. Including the Live Big® philosophy, notably reflected in the firm’s 2009 piece, “What does it mean to Live Big® in these trying times?,” which garnered hundreds of ideas from clients and friends and which eventually inspired a cover feature in Financial Advisor Magazine. There were also dozens of requests from other advisors to reproduce “The Live Big® List” in their year-end letter to clients.
Looking forward, Elissa and Dave and the rest of the YeBu team are energized by our goal to be the recognized best financial planning firm in the country (not to demean our many successful friends and colleagues, but everyone should dream big!) while feeling both humbled and honored by the trust that our wonderful clients continue to bestow upon us.